If you have a Windows Phone and you like to be always connected to what's going on in the world, even while you're mobile, head over to the Marketplace and grab the official Wall Street Journal application.

Samsung announced the Focus 2 Windows Phone on May 7 and promised to make it available starting May 20 so if you want to start your week off by getting a new device you should really look into this one.

Sorry folks, it's not available in the U.S.! However, if you have a Lumia 900, 800, 710, or 610 Windows Phones and you live in France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain and the UK, you can grab the Nokia Reading application.

Windows Phone is now accounting for seven percent of the Chinese market while Apple is lagging behind with its six percent. Meanwhile, Android is sitting more than comfortable at the top of the user preference list with roughly 69 percent.

Nokia will release a "Camera Extension" for the Lumia line-up which will integrate with the Camera application of Windows Phone, but with added features. These features will bring no less than four camera modes: Smart Group Shot, Action Shot (burst mode with about eight shots), Panoramic (stitching together five consecutive images) and the timer Self-timer.

It’s not easy to admit that you’re wrong. Back in 2010 I opined that “your smartphone can’t get much better,” wherein I argued that handset technology had peaked in many respects, with the newest improvements being mostly incremental in nature. Well I was incorrect: phones have gotten a lot better in that time period, and there’s clearly room for improvement still. The biggest reason, I realized, is that there will always be software which pushes the limits of the hardware, along with pretty fierce competition among more than half-a-dozen [...]

You know what we haven’t had in a while? A good old-fashioned #firstworldproblems rant. So here’s one.

As Q might say, the world of smartphones has always been “wondrous, with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross” (just making sure you’re awake, Trek fans). That magical quality has grown over the years -in fact, Apple effectively co-opted the term “magical” for a while there- and today our portable devices are capable of incredible feats.

Along the way, we’ve lost some things. Progress inevitably demands that [...]

Between voice minutes, an SMS package, and a data plan, the cost of wireless service adds up fast. That’s why we’re so excited when we hear about new ideas for cutting the cost of owning a smartphone, especially when they’re set to arrive with unlimited service. In recent months, we’ve been talking about Republic Wireless, which is trying to offer $19 all-inclusive plans with unlimited data by trying to offload the bulk of its bandwidth onto private WiFi networks. A big beta test is getting underway this summer, so we’ll hopefully get a better sense of how [...]

What makes a smartphone “smart”? The apps of course! Every week we will feature some of the best newest or updated apps for the three big names in the mobile industry; iPhone, Windows Phone, and Android. We have sifted through hundred of apps and have deemed these 12 the most noteworthy for you, the smartphone enthusiast. To download any of these apps to your respective platform just click on the name of the app to launch the AppStore, Windows Marketplace, or Google Play.

It goes by model number GT-I8350 but the actual denomination of the phone is Samsung Omnia M. It is powered by Windows Phone and was just introduced by Samsung today, to be available first in Europe and later on in other regions.

The Omnia M is marketed as a phone for “non stop entertainment”. It packs a 1GHz processor and a four-inch Super AMOLED display of WVGA resolution. The rest of the specs include 384MB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage, five megapixel main camera with LED flash, VGA webcam, WiFi b/g/n, and a 1,500mAh battery.

Before we dive too deep (after all, love is such a strong word) people like Android.

About 51% of smartphone users are running Android on their device. By February 2012 there were over 300 million Android phones (not including tablets) in the hands of consumers, with an additional 850,000 phones and tablets being activated every day.

Obviously Android is doing something right.

But that’s just people who like Android. Some of them may not even know they’re running Android, but it gets the job done and they’re not at all worried about the nuts and [...]

If neither cyan or black is the color of your choice when it comes to the Lumia 900 on AT&T and you’re interested in the white version you can go ahead and purchase one from AT&T for $99.99 on a two-year contract.

However, if you want to grab the same phone in the same color for $49.99, you’ll need to be a little patient. The device is indeed listed on Amazon with the price mentioned but it currently has a “backordered” status. This could either mean that it sold out like hot cookies or that the listing is already there but there are no phones [...]

Everybody loves a bargain, right? Especially when it comes to smartphones, it doesn’t get much better than inexpensive handsets — or does it? From the consumer’s perspective, low-priced hardware can be seen two ways: either it represents a good deal or, sometimes, simply a cheap and low-quality product.

Certain brands go out of their way to avoid the appearance of being cheap and mass market, even if it means lower sales on higher margins: think Nokia sub-brand Vertu. Other companies, however, embrace the low-cost model, hoping to make their money on volume [...]

This year’s CES brought exciting Windows Phones to AT&T’s 4G network: the powerful HTC Titan II and the new kid on the block, the Nokia Lumia 900. Now the same AT&T 4G LTE network is preparing for yet another refresh: the Samsung Focus 2.

It will go for $49.99 with a two-year contract and will be available beginning May 20. Windows Phone 7.5 will be powering the device which sports a four-inch Super AMOLED screen (with of course WVGA resolution), five-megapixel camera with HD 720p video recording capability, and VGA webcam for video calls and Skype. With [...]

Yesterday, we heard that LG was planning to put Windows Phone on the back-burner, not release any new hardware in the foreseeable future, and continue to work with the platform only as an internal R&D project. This news was reported by the Korea Herald, attributed to an unnamed LG spokesperson. Since then, though, another spokesperson for LG has been in touch with Pocket-lint, and steadfastly denies those earlier claims. Does that mean that LG plans to keep at it with Windows Phone, or is there more to this apparent about-face?

Just a few months after Windows Phone 7 launched as a platform, we heard LG talking in January 2011 about its disappointments up until then with sales of the Optimus 7 and Quantum. Granted, things were just getting started for WP7, but even with that in consideration, LG just wasn’t seeing the sales that it had projected. While this early reaction didn’t bode well for the company’s relationship with the OS, LG seemed at the time that it still wanted Windows Phone to succeed, and that it would give the situation a chance to improve. Now, well over a year later, it [...]

The HTC Titan II and the Nokia Lumia 900 are the hottest Windows Phones on AT&T at the moment and they both support the carrier’s 4G network and speeds. If you didn’t grab one already you have a chance of winning a unit with Windows Phone and Skype.

Since they’re AT&T phones, this contest is U.S.-only but the good thing is that it ends on June 7, 2012 at 11:59PST. All you have to do to enter the contest and win one out of ten devices given away is to follow the source link below to Facebook, watch the video and enter in your details to submit your [...]

First lets talk about what skeuomorphs are. It’s a new buzz word used to describe design elements that have no purpose in their current form but are used to give a familiarity to something from the past. Skeuomorph design elements are extremely prevalent in Apple’s software designs.

In iPhoto for iOS you’ll see your photo albums represented as books sitting on shelves with pictures on them. You’ll see pictures of paint brushes and pencils to represent editing tools. The iBooks and Newstand apps show your books and subscriptions on wooden shelves. Buttons [...]

The current version of Facebook for Windows Phone is a massive improvement over the initial versions which were available for quite some time after the platform launch. It not only looks better but has added functionality. However, the app is not perfect but the developers seem to listen to customer feedback.

There’s a Note on the official Facebook for Windows Phone Facebook page according to which version 2.5, improved, will be soon landing in the Marketplace. The fruit of the team’s hard word based on feedback will include some nice features: threaded messaging [...]

Owners of the Nokia Lumia 710 and Lumia 800c (which is the Chinese version) will definitely get the Internet Sharing option — that is tethering — in the next update which seems to be Tango, aka Windows Phone 7.5 refresh.

According to reports, NaviFirm is now listing localized versions of the update for the aforementioned devices, meaning that the roll-out should start soon. In addition to the platform refresh and Internet Sharing there are also add-on apps like Sportstracker, News and Creative Studio. So far Belgium, the Netherlands and Vietnam seem to have the [...]

In this week’s episode of the Android Guy Weekly we’ll talk about technology, politics, and animal husbandry. No, really! Somehow me manage to tie it all together into a common thread, but you’ll just have to watch the video to see what I mean.

Operating systems and brand-names aside, when someone goes to buy a new smartphone or tablet, or install a new app, they fall into one of two groups: those who buy the product because it’s what they’ve been told to get, and those who are more fully-informed about what they’re getting and why.

Skype for Windows Phone was available as a Beta since February 27 and those of you who were using the application on your Windows Phones since day one can now update to build 1.0, as the app has reached its final version.

You may need to uninstall your current Beta in order to install the final version which brings a couple of new features and improvements but, as reported, it is still not able to receive calls while in the background. However, you can search the Marketplace for “Skype” or follow the source link below to grab the application.